Detroit’s Next Top Raider
An annual radio show presented by Motown Pirate Radio, Detroit’s Next Top Raider serves as a measuring stick for the relative performance of the raider gangs in the Detroit Wasteland. Running since 2277, the show provides an annual ranking of the top five most powerful gangs within the city, as per determined by a vast array of factors. History The origins of Detroit’s Next Top Raider came from a drunken argument between two raiders in a bar over who exactly was the most powerful raider gang in the city. The ongoing contraction of the Hellfire Gang had created a power vacuum that other gangs were eager to exploit, resulting in a surge in activity as different gangs competed for territories and targets. After the debate blew up and ended in a stabbing (as these things often do) a couple of the crew at Motown Pirate Radio decided that this was something that was worth exploring, and could bring some caps to their station as well. After a weekend spend getting blasted on Mentats, the pair of them devised a formula to measure the relative strength of each gang. This complex calculus was based on a combination of membership, area controlled, income, wealth, aggression, technology and other factors that would only make sense to somebody who was high as a kite. None the less, they managed to achieve a result and presented it to the staff of Motown Pirate Radio. The station’s managers saw the potential in this program, and had them go to air with it. 2277 # Scrap Dogs # The Gentlemen # Barrage Boys # Heavy Metal Hooligans # Hellfire Gang The first edition of Detroit’s Next Top Raider was broadcast at midday on July 1st, 2277, with repeat broadcasts later in the day. The result of the first survey contained a mixture of predictable and surprising results. In first place was the Scrap Dogs, a gang who had no prior connection to the fading Hellfire Gang Empire and instead had emerged through aggressively seizing territories and absorbing other gangs. The Scrap Dogs were also the most technologically capable of the gangs, a factor that would prove important in subsequent years. In second place was the Gentlemen, an old, well-established gang who were the longest lasted gang in the city. Their position was somewhat bolstered by their domination of the slave trade, especially given how much of it they had taken over from the failing Hellfire Gang. The third place position was taken up by the Barrage Boys, a young, aggressively expanding gang that had recently taken over the RNG Ammunition Factory, a key position for raiding the trade routes between Park Lane and Chryslus Castle. The last two places were strangely intertwined. The Heavy Metal Hooligans were one of the new gangs that had emerged from the decline of the Hellfire Gang, and were in the process of gobbling up their former territories in downtown. The Hellfires themselves managed to squeak in at fifth place, having been reduced to little more than a rump empire in downtown that was still contracting. Overall, the show was well received, even if it did prompt plenty of inter-gang violence over disputed results. Soon afterwards, Motown Pirate Radio announced that they would run the show again next year. 2278 # Scrap Dogs # The Gentlemen # Barrage Boys # Heavy Metal Hooligans # War Bears The lead up to the second edition of Detroit’s Next Top Raider was marked not only but bursts of gang violence, but also copious betting on the results. Several gangs set up their own betting rackets to feed raiders (as well as traders and even settlers) who were interested in wagering on the outcome. With all that being said, the actual result was almost anticlimactic. Outwardly, the top four positions stayed the same as the previous years. However, the devil was in the details; the Gentlemen’s score had gone down, leaving them only fractionally ahead of the Barrage Boys who had closed the lead between the two. Likewise, the Heavy Metal Hooligans also improved, closing the gap between them and the Barrage Boys. The Scrap Dogs continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate then before, but still leaving them with a clear lead. The biggest surprise was the fifth place, in which the War Bears displaced the Hellfire Gang. This was bought about by a combination of factors. First, the Hellfires had continued to decline with other gangs (most notably the Heavy Metal Hooligans) eating into their territories and markets. The second was the War Bears’ newfound aggression, which saw them claim territory and market share from the Gentlemen. The result was that the Hellfire Gang were pushed out of the top five; from there on, their score and ranking would only continue to decline. 2279 # Scrap Dogs # Barrage Boys # The Gentlemen # Heavy Metal Hooligans # War Bears As with the previous year, violence and gambling dominated the lead up to the 2279 edition of Detroit’s Next Top Raider, with each gang engaged in last-minute jostling for position. The actual broadcast of the show turned into a party for a number of gangs, with alcohol and chems flowing freely as each celebrated their position. The biggest upset of the year was the Barrage Boys, seen as being a young upstart gang, overtaking the old-guard, well-established Gentlemen. Furthermore, while not revealed to the public, the gap between the two was a lot bigger then expected, with the Gentlemen were only barely hanging on to third place. Much of this came due to their overly restrictive membership policies, which were both their growth and the opportunities for new gang members. The Barrage Boys still had a long way to go before they could catch up to the Scrap Dogs, however. The War Bears also saw considerable growth, much of which was also at the expense of the Gentlemen. Many speculated that they could be in the top three next year, assuming nothing unexpected happened. In the meantime, the Hellfire Gang continued to sink out of sight with their rank further diminishing. 2280 # Scrap Dogs # Barrage Boys # Wrecking Crew # The Gentlemen # War Bears The biggest upset of the 2280 awards came out of nowhere. The Wrecking Crew, ranked as number six in 2279, staged a coup against the Heavy Metal Hooligans, managing to take over the larger gang and absorb the bulk of their territories and membership. The newly combined gang had a resultant score big enough to catapult them well past the Gentlemen and into a comfortable third place. The Gentlemen’s situation was not helped by ongoing skirmishes between them and the War Bears over territories and claims on potential ‘products’. The Gentlemen had begun to realise, largely thanks to Detroit’s Next Top Raider, just how quickly the War Bears were growing and how much of a threat they were. Behind the scenes, Motown Pirate radio had opened up their own ‘official’ betting ring on the program, with their agents more then willing to offer ‘insider tips’ to potential gamblers. These tips were utterly worthless, but it didn’t stop the station, through its agents, from raking in the caps. 2281 # Scrap Dogs # Barrage Boys # Wrecking Crew # War Bears # The Gentlemen While Motown Pirate Radio were raking in the caps from the gambling, the 2281 edition of Detroit’s Next Top Raider was considered to be something of a disappointment by many listeners. Only two of the gangs changed their position, with the War Bears overtaking the Gentlemen in a move that many saw as being inevitable. This change came about as a result of both the War Bears’ ongoing aggression and the Gentlemen’s seemingly unstoppable decline. Some were already comparing them to the Hellfire Gang, although this was something of an exaggeration. Behind the scenes, however, the numbers were looking a lot more interesting. The Barrage Boys and the Scrap Dogs had been engaged in several territorial skirmishes over the Cass Corridor which had done nothing for either gang. Conversely, the Wrecking Crew had grown quickly, bringing their overall score up, and allowing them to close the gap with the Barrage Boys. 2282 # Scrap Dogs # Wrecking Crew # Barrage Boys # War Bears # The Gentlemen After the disappointment of the 2281 awards, the 2282 edition of Detroit’s Next Top Raider saw an unexpected twist. The Wrecking Crew’s leadership was overthrown by an outsider, David David David David David David Plop, who pushed his new gang into an aggressive campaign of expansion. By the middle of the year, they controlled nearly all of downtown, which pushed their score up beyond that of the Barrage Boys, allowing them to claim second spot. Those that had caps on the Wrecking Crew advancing also cleaned up that year. While the ascension of the Wrecking Crew pushed the Barrage Boys into third place, there was precious little chance of them going any lower. By this point, a definite gap had opened up between the top three and fourth place, one that the War Bears would be unable to easily close. They did, however, continue to grow, although the Gentlemen’s score remained steady enough to keep them in the top five. The Scrap Dogs continued to hold on to the top position, with many feeling that they simply had too much of a lead to displace. Certainly the gap between them and the Wrecking Crew was such that it would take some massive unforeseen event for any other gang to overtake them. While betting on the first place had all but dried up, the intensity of betting on second and third only grew. 2283 # Scrap Dogs # Cake or Death # Wrecking Crew # War Bears # The Gentlemen 2283 bought another twist to Detroit’s Next Top Raider. Echoing events of the previous year, the Barrage Boys’ leadership was also overthrown by a complete outsider. The gang’s new leader, Mrs Mothrapickles, re-titled them as Cake or Death, leading to no end of confusing among the betting as to if wagers on the old gang transferred to the new one. The combination of aggressive moves by Mothrapickles, a refocus on cake-based crimes and her decision to pull back from war with the Scrap Dogs saw Cake or Death move into second place, even if the margin between it and third was razor-thin. While the Gentlemen managed to arrest their decline, another threat presented itself to them. The Shackles, the third of the city’s trio of slaver gangs, had moved into sixth position under their new leader, Andrea Furey. The gap between the two gangs was surprisingly narrow, a fact that the Gentlemen refused to acknowledges, much to their detriment. 2284 # Scrap Dogs # Wrecking Crew # Cake or Death # War Bears # The Gentlemen The 2284 round of Detroit’s Next Top Raider was disrupted by the Revolutionary War, which made gathering of accurate information difficult. To make matters worse, the betting remained quiet as people were more concerned with staying alive then making a few caps. The result was that the 2284 broadcast was surprisingly subdued. Both the Scrap Dogs and Cake or Death remained completely out of the conflict, having done various deals with the Army of Revolution to avoid engagement with them. Similarly, none of the Slaver Gangs got involved with the conflict, although this was more due to geography then anything else. As a result, the biggest winner of the year was the Wrecking Crew, largely due to their aggressively preying on the Army of Revolution. The raider gang targeted groups of soldiers and supply columns as they tried to pick their way through downtown, feeding their coffers and increasing their overall score. 2285 # Scrap Dogs # Cake or Death # Wrecking Crew # War Bears # Shackles After the relatively quiet and subdued affair that was the 2284 awards, 2285 returned to the usual festival of drunken revelry, heavy betting and retaliatory violence. The biggest news of the year was that the Gentlemen, who had been number two in 2277, had now been pushed out of the top five entirely. The newcomer gang, the Shackles, had benefited from an aggressive new leader who had preyed upon Army of Revolution deserters and remnants to bolster their income. The only good news for the Gentlemen was that their decline had slowed, but few gave them good odds of reclaiming their former position. The top end of the order was dominated by the heated, if inexplicable, rivalry between Mrs Mothrapickles and David David David David David David Plop. Even though the two didn’t share any territories, it was clear that they didn’t like each other, and were competing against each other for reasons known only to them. The result was that Cake or Death barely eked out the Wrecking Crew for second place. Motown Pirate Radio made a big deal of this in order to encourage betting on the two for next year. 2286 # Scrap Dogs # Wrecking Crew # Cake or Death # War Bears # Shackles Motown Pirate Radio’s plans paid off, as the betting on the number two and three positions for the 2286 edition of Detroit’s Next Top Raider was intense. The station raked in the caps as they played up just how close the Wrecking Crew and Cake or Death were to each other. And when the announcement was made that the Wrecking Crew had reclaimed the number two spot, the cries of joy and groans of disappointment were considerable. Comparatively, the Scrap Dogs holding the top spot for the tenth year in a row barely rated a mention. Hugh Janus, the leader of the Gentlemen, was asked how hew felt about being squeezed out of the top ten for the second year running. He claimed that it didn’t bother him as he saw such a vulgar and banal contest as being beneath him. Many took that to mean he was upset, but couldn’t bring himself to admit it. 2287 # Scrap Dogs # Wrecking Crew # Cake or Death Going into 2287, the staff of Motown Pirate Radio were expecting a real shake-up of the rankings due to two unrelated events. The first was the emerging three-way conflict between the Shackles, War Bears and Gentlemen, which threatened to dramatically alter the rankings of all three gangs. The second was the losses suffered by the Scrap Dogs during their attack on Park Lane. While few thought that they would be dethroned from the spot they had held so long, the potential to close the gap between them and the number two spot was played up by the bookies to encourage betting. Most thought that the Slaver’s War would blow over and that the three would settle in to the new status quo, whatever it was, with the inevitable adjustments to their rankings. Instead, it continued to escalate past the point of all reason, with the three gangs seemingly set upon their mutual destruction. Realizing that it would be impossible to rank them in this situation (given that any score would be obsolete within days and that any given gang could be wiped out before going to air), the decision was made to reduce the top five to a top three. However, this was further complicated as the situation within the Detroit Wasteland escalated. The Army of Revolution’s invasion of Park Lane, aided by the Scrap Dogs, threw the entire scoring system out the window, especially as Motown Pirate Radio did not have access to the inner workings of this alliance. On top of that, there were also rumours that Mrs Mothrapickles was also allied with the Army of Revolution. With the deadline approaching, the staff threw together an arbitrary and unmeasured Detroit’s Next Top Raider show, basing the rankings on last year’s and their own estimations. This was not well received with many claiming that the show had been rigged and was now ruined forever, and more then a few lynchings. Motown Pirate Radio host Sly Roach was forced to make an on-air apology, claiming that circumstances beyond his control had forced his hand, and that next year’s show would be much better. As if this mess was not enough, the listeners of Motown Pirate Radio were rocked in October 2287 by a massive scandal. Sly Roach was forced to admit on the air that he had been taking payments from “concerned parties” in order to throw the results for several years. Specifically, he admitted that he had been being paid off to keep the Metal Bitches off the top five list. Not only should they have come in at number four in 2287, but they should have also been number four for several years before that. This lead to considerable speculation that the parties paying him off were one or more of the Eastside slaver gangs. It also lead to a number of knifings, but that was an expected outcome with Raiders. After a lengthy, grovelling apology, Roach made it abundantly clear that the 2288 results would reflect the reality of the situation rather than a biased version skewed by his own failings. This lead in turn to renewed interest in the show, with many speculating that 2288’s results would be a massive shake-up of the established order. Category:Radio Stations